Over The Seas: Love is Temptation
by IceArceus
Summary: Five years ago, Ash and Dawn made a promise to each other, to love each other forever. Now in Kanto, they find the path to true happiness isn't as smooth as they'd hoped. Rated T for mild language and slightly mature themes.


**A/N: This is the sequel to Lake Valor Grammar: Final Year, but it can be read as a stand-alone fic. It's not necessary to have read LVG, but if you want the full context then I would recommend it. Five years ago, Ash and Dawn made a promise to each other. Does true love stand the test of time?**

**No more trivial school stuff. This is where the real fun begins.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any characters in the story.**

**Over The Seas: Love Is Temptation**

**Chapter 1**

The wind blew back Dawn's hair as the boat approached Vermillion harbour. She leant forwards against the rail, admiring the view. Her sunhat almost blew away and she had to quickly grab it to prevent the item from falling into the sea. Various passengers were taking advantage of the bright sunlight and warm weather, one of them her new friend Misty.

They were on the luxury cruise liner SS. Anne, tickets courtesy of Johanna. Dawn would almost be sorry when they would have to get off the ship. It really did have everything, and her and Misty had been enjoying every minute of it.

Dawn had met Misty Wateflower- Sketchit at Solaceon University, where she had been the lifeguard at the swimming pool. Her red haired friend could be outspoken and quick tempered at times, but had shown herself to be a loyal friend many times over. Misty was a few years older than her, and after finishing her Master's Degree, was travelling back home to Cerulean City to find a house for herself and her husband Tracey Waterflower-Sketchit, who had the rather feminine double barrelled surname at his wife's insistence, much to the amusement of his friends, or so Misty said. They had married a few months ago, just before Misty completed her time at University.

Her friend was lazily sunning herself on the deck, sporting a red bikini, while Dawn had gone for a more modest look with a yellow sundress and wide rimmed sunhat.

She was also trying to hide her excitement under an outer shell of calm, for she was meeting a certain raven-haired boy, no, man now, for the first time in five years. She had called him after she finished her Master's degree, much to his annoyance, since he had finished his own Bachelor's degree two years earlier. He was currently residing temporarily in Cerulean City, and they had arranged to meet there, where Dawn also happened to be starting her first real job at the historical research lab there. Dawn had called him only a few days ago on a videophone from Twinleaf Town, and because the videophone's video function wasn't working, she had not been able see his face, something she was both irritated and relieved with. She had wanted to see his face in person.

His voice had certainly changed, though. It was deeper, and it had the same quality that was there whenever he spoke to her alone, but there had also been a nervous and reluctant undertone to it, though it was probably just the poor signal in Twinleaf Town.

Lost in her thoughts, Dawn did not realize the boat had docked until a fully dressed Misty in her yellow jumpsuit shook her.

"We're here!" She said impatiently. "How long are you going to be in your little Ash world for?"

Dawn sheepishly apologized, knowing that Misty was in such a hurry because she wanted to see Tracey, and probably also because she wanted to go to the new swimwear shop in Cerulean as quickly as possible.

"Coming, Misty."

Dawn just sighed as Misty grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her from where she was stood, cutting through the café on the ship, heading towards the direction of the exit.

Before they had gone through half of the dining area, however, Misty stopped and peered at something in the distance.

"Come on! I really wanna see this ship before it leaves!" an unfamiliar, rather high pitched voice cried.

Misty paused and squinted. On the other side of the room, a girl dressed in red was dragging a man by the wrist, but it wasn't the girl she was interested in. That man looked a lot like someone she knew…

"It's Ash!" Dawn breathed. She turned to Misty, who glared at her for an unexplainable reason.

"I'm going insane, damnit, Dawn." She scowled. "I thought I knew that guy. Turns out I felt like that because I've heard you describe him so many times!"

"Oh… sorry." Dawn brightened. "Come on, Misty!"

* * *

Dawn almost knocked over a few chairs as she ran over to Ash, who was still facing the other way. She hadn't seen him for so long! And he was so much taller. He was wearing what looked like a blue top with a yellow chevron, and jeans. He seemed to have someone else with him as well.

"Ash!" She called.

Ash turned to face her, but not before she had managed to get to him to throw her arms around him, her face in his shirt. She felt his shock as he hesitantly put his arms around her waist, as though something was restraining him.

"Dawn…" He whispered, softly so that only she could hear. "I missed you so much."

She felt his warm breath against her ear, sending tingles down her spine, before he let her go, after a light cough interrupted them.

Dawn turned to see the female standing next to him. She was wearing a red skirt and a black, sleeveless shirt with a white collar, as well as a pink hat, adorned with a black bow, as well as matching black stockings. She had eyes the colour of the sky, as well as thick blonde hair that was tied low at the back. She was probably his fr-

"Hi!" The girl said in a voice that was too cheerful. "I'm Serena! And I'm Ash's girlfriend!"

Dawn's jaw dropped.

Ash turned his face away.

Misty came over and scowled.

"Why'd you have to go running off like that?" She said. "Now that we've finished this lovey dovey scene, I believe we're going to Cerulean City now." She turned and addressed Serena for the first time. "Oh! And who are you?"

"I'm Ash's girlfriend, and my name's Serena."

Misty herself fell silent, a rare occasion for her, and she looked at Ash and Dawn, understanding the awkward atmosphere. "Ohhhh…."

"And you're obviously Ash?" She said, trying to lighten the _very_ tense atmosphere.

"Yes." He said tersely. He suddenly narrowed his eyes at her. "Wait a minute… I've seen you before. Dawn told me your name's Misty. You must be Misty Waterflower! You're my friend Tracey's wife! He's shown me a photo of you."

"Small world." Misty said, darting a sideways glance at Serena, who was still happily smiling, oblivious to the tension, and who was now, unhelpfully, clinging onto Ash's arm.

Misty glanced at Serena from head to toe, deciding to ask a few questions for Dawn, who was probably dying to know certain things but way too shocked to ask them.

"So…. Ash. Tell me. How did you and Serena get together?" She asked accusingly.

Serena answered before Ash could get a word in.

"Oh! Well, basically, what happened was" The girl begun excitedly, "I saw Ash just staring at the sky at night, like, being really spaced out, you know? He was just mumbling about some girl he'd been with a year ago, didn't catch her name, Dawn, was it? And I just looked at him for a while, like, how could I not? I mean, he's literally the full package, and just so hot! I just thought, this girl must've really been stupid to leave him, so I went up to him, and I spoke to him for the first time! It was so exciting!" She clung onto Ash's arm even tighter. "Then, we starting hanging out a bit more, you know, doing friend stuff, and-"Serena paused dramatically. "After another three years, I managed to convince him to go out with me! Took you quite long didn't it, Ash?" She carried on before Ash could say anything. "We've been together for a month now!"

"Right…" Misty said, casting a concerned look at Dawn, who was looking like she was trying not to clobber Serena over the head.

"Can we just get to Cerulean now?" Her friend asked quietly, looking at no one in particular.

"Oh! We're going there too, aren't we, Ashy?" Serena squealed. "We can walk together!"

This was going to be one long walk.

* * *

Dawn tried not to look at Ash next to her, rather focusing on the surroundings, the beautiful path to Cerulean City, lined with trees and the bright sky above, and the sound of Pidgey squawking in the trees; taunting her. She had been looking forward to seeing Kanto and all that it had to offer, but now she just wanted to curl up in a hole and die.

Dawn could see that Misty was trying not to look bored as Serena chattered on aimlessly. She silently thanked her friend for keeping Serena busy, so that she and Ash would have a moment to talk.

That wasn't going to plan. She was too miserable, too outraged, to even put her thoughts into comprehensible words; the inner conflict of these feelings, just clashing all at once. She'd like to think that she wasn't in love with Ash anymore, but she also knew that was far from the truth. Hardly being able to contain herself, she disregarded Ash's attempts to make small talk.

"Dawn, why are you ignoring me?"

"Oh, you _know_ why." She gritted out.

"Look, it was a mistake. It just happened, okay?"

"Just because she asked you it doesn't mean you have to accept!" She said, trying to keep her voice down as Serena cast them curious looks from a few metres ahead. "Actually, I don't even know why I care."

"I don't know why I accepted. She just kept telling me, over and over, how anyone who would leave me for so long obviously didn't care about me. She just kept saying that until-"

"You believed her?" She burst out, quickly covering her mouth, so as not to alarm the two people in front. "You actually believed her? What about that promise that _you _suggested?" She hissed, blue eyes narrowed in anger.

"It's just a promise, Dawn." Ash shot back.

"JUST a promise, he says." Her eyes widened at his idiocy. "I'll love you forever, he said. You sicken me, Ash Ketchum." They were at the entrance to Cerulean City now, and Misty's Gym was in sight, as well as the hotel opposite it that Ash mentioned he was staying in. "I'm just going to pretend you don't exist, that you're anywhere but here-"

A happy voice interrupted them. "Misty just told me your name's Dawn! What a coincidence!"

"What's the coincidence?" Dawn could barely restrain herself from strangling Serena, who was walking backwards so she could address her. Dawn instantly felt guilty for hoping she would trip.

"Why, that's the same name of the bitch that left my Ashy for five years, of course!"

_Right, that's it. _Dawn stomped ahead to face Misty. "We're going to the Gym. _Now." _

* * *

As soon as Dawn and Misty had made their way down the corridor, Misty could only hold the door of the guestroom open as Dawn burst into the room and launched herself at the bed, wracked by horrible, wrenching sobs. Arceus knew how long she had been bottling it in.

"It's alright, Dawn." Misty soothed, kneeling next to her and placing her hand on her back. "Ash doesn't deserve you."

"But…." She choked "How could he? He was the one who made that promise. And now he's broken it. All because of her."

"I could get Tracey to beat her up for you…." Misty suggested, trying to lighten the situation.

"Oh, Misty. That's not very nice…." Dawn began, half laughing, half crying. "….to Tracey. You told me that he hates violence." She managed a few giggles before coughing again.

"I don't know why he likes me then…" Misty joked. "Don't worry, Dawn. Everything will be fine."

After spending a few hours in her room, crying, until Dawn felt that she couldn't get another tear out of herself even if she wanted to, she brushed her hair and changed into a clean dress. She discarded her Poketch. _I don't want anyone calling me. _Satisfied, she went downstairs to find Misty, who was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"I'm going to the bar." Dawn said suddenly.

"What?"

"You know, that's what everyone does when they're feeling like this. I'm going to get _so _drunk…I'm going to drink so much of the good stuff…"

"Erm, Dawn, didn't you tell me before that you've never had alcohol?"

"Shut up. I'm still going." She sounded adamant, and after a few moments, sighed resignedly. "But fine, if you want, I'll just go and not drink. I'll just listen to the music."

"Hmmm." Misty glared at her. "You'd better stick to your word. And you'd better be back in time for dinner. That's when Tracey is coming back from Pallet."

"Of course, Misty." Dawn lied.

* * *

Dawn walked unsteadily across the road to the bar, as though the alcohol were already in her system. It was dark now, and the streets of Cerulean City were lit with neon lights, and various shops were closed, but some places were open, filled with the sound of laughter.

Glaring at the hotel, which stood magnificently next to the bar, she pushed the revolving doors and entered the building.

Feeling unexperienced as she glanced at the many people who were drinking as though they'd been doing it their whole lives, she slid uncertainly onto a bar stool, slamming her fist on the table.

"I'd like three large vodkas, please." She squinted at the name tag on the bartender's shirt. "Paul."

The purple haired man raised his eyebrows. "Are they all for you?"

"Er…" She hesitated. "No, they're for my friends, too."

"Sure they are, sweetheart." The bartender said sarcastically. He scowled at her. "I'm only giving you one."

"But I can pay for them!"

"No way. Who's going to drag you out of here when you're out of your face, drunk?"

"Fine." She pouted. "But you'd better give me a _large _glass."

He returned shortly afterwards with a tall glass filled with ice and a clear liquid that looked no more dangerous than water.

Grabbing the glass from him, she took a sip. "You can barely taste the vodka! You must've watered it down." She accused.

"So what if I did? As soon as you walked in I could tell you've never had a drink in your life! Do you want to die, sweetheart?"

Their argument was interrupted by a man sliding onto the barstool next to Dawn, slumping onto the table and slamming his fist on the wood in much the same manner. "Gimme another vodka…."

"Ash?!" Dawn exclaimed. She was too surprised to see him here to be angry. "Shouldn't you be in a hotel room with your girlfriend?" She sneered.

"For your information, we have separate rooms…" He slurred, as Paul handed him another glass with a dubious look.

"Why are you here, then? I'm the one who should be drowning my sorrows." She took a massive gulp of vodka, cringing at the aftertaste.

"heh…." He muttered something incomprehensible, already intoxicated by the alcohol.

Dawn was surprised at the time it took for the drink to take its effect. She guessed that was probably because she had an empty stomach, but either way, her mind was filled with a very strange haze that she wasn't sure she liked. Her thoughts were getting more detached, and reality seemed distorted.

"Why'd you have to go and ruin everything?" Her voice sounded like it wasn't coming from her, and it seemed oddly quiet.

"Me? Who said it was my fault you never called me for five years?" He shouted incoherently.

"So? It doesn't mean you have to listen to that obnoxious little…"

"It's still not my fault!"

"I hate you!" Dawn smashed her now empty glass on the floor.

"Hey! That costs money, you know!"

"Well, I hate you more!" Ash retorted.

Their argument escalated until they were suddenly upon each other, kissing each other passionately, satisfying a hunger that had been there all along, while Paul watched in exasperation, no doubt having seen this all before.

After a few moments, they broke apart for air, breathing heavily both from what had just happened and from the alcohol.

"I. Love. You." Dawn gasped out.

"Not…As. Much. As. I. Love. You." His voice came out in strangled breaths.

At this, they both got up, and, flinging their arms around each other in an alcohol induced haze, resumed their kissing once more, holding on to the other as they would never let go.

"Serena's in her room, asleep…" Ash whispered.

Dawn's eyes widened at his implications, momentarily snapping out of her state and taking his words in, but before she could say anything, he was kissing her again, as though he hadn't done it for an age, which was true.

Unable to resist, she threw her arms around his neck returned his kiss just as ferociously, until the two had to surface for oxygen.

The two of them made their way, stumbling, across the road to the Cerulean Gym, where Dawn was staying. The hallway leading to the guest rooms were completely dark, and Ash pushed open a door, and Dawn felt herself lose her grip on reality before he slammed it shut.

**A/N: So this is Chapter 1. Don't jump to conclusions yet! There's no saying what's going to happen. And no, this story will NOT go up to an M rating. So, was it what you were expecting? **

**So please review, favourite, follow, whatever suits you. I need to get a feel to see if this is worth continuing. **

**P.S. I've never been drunk so I'm just making a guess at when it comes to what it feels like when you're drunk.**

**Next Chapter: A Friend Returns**


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